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Monday, July 12, 2010

Today's the day!

Between the two of us, my husband and I have six grandchildren, but by this afternoon, we'll have seven! Our triplet grandsons will be big brothers sometime this afternoon, when their little sister is delivered by C-section.

Nowadays, when it's customary to find out a new baby's gender early on in the pregnancy, the mystery seems to be the name. When my children were born, we chose names for a boy and a girl and told everyone who asked. My daughter and her husband shared their children's names (they are 13 and nine) prior to their birth days, but we didn't know my three-year-old granddaughter's or the triplets' names until they made their way into the world.

I'm anxious to learn the new little one's name, can you tell?

I've made her a tiny seed-stitch sweater (which still needs buttons, you'd think in the vast collection of buttons I've amassed over the years I could find six perfect matching buttons, but NOOOOO), and I'm nearly finished with her Doddy. I'll make her a blanket next, but since it's July, and I know she's well-stocked, I'm in less of a hurry to work on that. (I can't find the link to the pattern, but it's a simple garter-stitch square with a feather-and-fan lace edging.)

Today's also the day I freeze a huge bag of beet greens, a gift from my friend Elora, who must have canned a hundred jars of beets yesterday. When I picked them up, the greens were soaking in a wheelbarrow; that gives you an idea of how large the gift was. I have a few mature beets left in the garden and a new row is just starting to sprout, so we'll have a few more before the season ends.

I've been picking beans – yellow, green and Romano – and snow peas every day for a week now, and they keep on coming, that being the nature of beans and peas. Ten pounds in the freezer so far. The first tomato was eaten for dinner last night, but it won't be long before we'll have more than we can eat, and I'll be canning tomatoes until I can't can any more.

Here's the recipe for last night's meal. Next time I make it, I'll be using my own fresh mozzarella, now that Elora's milk cow is back in business. Fresh mozza from the grocery was an okay substitute, but I think Marigold's will taste much better. Next time I make it I'm adding a clove of crushed garlic for a little extra kick.

Before I quit, my husband and I went to a birthday party yesterday for his high-school English teacher, who is 106 years old today. She was surprisingly alert and chipper at the party, and even gave a little speech. The funniest part was that whenever someone wished her a happy birthday, she replied, "And happy birthday to you, too!" Such a sweetie.

Would you want to live that long? I'm on the fence. Who knows what kind of advances will be made in the next 47 years (I'll be 106 then)?